hunks_on_ice (hunks_on_ice) wrote in vivavampvegas, @ 2010-08-01 20:49:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | guest: abigail mcconnell, guest: eric kinkaid |
Skating Lessons
Who: Eric and Abbi
Where: Las Vegas Community Skating Rink
When: Friday July 23rd
Raising a hand to his face, Eric ran his fingers through his straw-colored hair, blowing out a breath, adjusted the laces of the skates draped over his shoulder. It had been about two weeks since he'd met the cute blonde at the mall and unexpectedly gotten her phone number. In fact, he still had the napkin with her phone number written in lipstick on it, tucked into a drawer in his desk at home. He'd let a few days pass before calling her and was relieved when she picked up the phone. After some small talk, they'd picked a day and time to meet at the rink, where he would ostensibly teach her how to iceskate. This would either be a master stroke or a complete disaster.
Was Abbi a glutton for punishment? Possibly. Why else would she agree to this as a first date with a cute boy? Doing one of the few things she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that SHE COULD NOT DO? Brilliant, Ab. Really. Still, she'd agreed to it, so... time to suck it up and go for it. She at least wore a good outfit for it. Maybe the white pleated miniskirt, pink Gucci tank-top, and shiny black open-toed Manolos would distract him from how bad she was going to be here? She walked into the rink, looking around for him as she reached back to tie her blonde hair into a high ponytail.
His lips twisted in consternation as he looked around for her, fishing in his pocket for his phone, flipping it open to check to see if he'd missed a call or text from her. He hadn't, of course: he would have either heard his ringtone or felt the vibration. Folding the phone closed again, Eric looked around; he couldn't believe how anxious he felt that she might have cancelled. But then, he saw her - the same gorgeous blonde, dressed to the nines in a killer outfit. He'd know from the moment she said she was going to start at LVHS: she was going to own that school. Lifting his arm, he waved back and forth to get her attention. "Abbi!" he called, a little louder than he'd intended.
“Eric!" She said happily, waving at him like a little spaz until she caught it, and blushed, calming down immediately. Hey, STFU. She was glad to have at least ONE friend who was BORN in this time, ok? She pranced over to him, cutely enough giving him a little kiss on the cheek. And that wasn't even her flirting... she generally greeted her good friends that way.
Kinkaid was surprised when she moved in close, expecting her to go for a sidehug or something, but found himself leaning down to let her kiss him on the cheek. "Hey," he replied, grinning like a fool, his hand lingering on the back of her shoulder before falling away as he recovered himself. "Glad you made it. I, uh... I brought my skates, but we can go rent you a pair." He looked her up and down quickly, note quite oggling her legs, but, in his defense, they were hard to miss in that skirt. "Um... nice shoes, Abbi." It was the only thing he could think to say: she looked mind-blowingly amazing.
"Thanks. Cant say I own any skates. I try not to own things that could cause me grievous injury. Call it a quirk." She smirked, trying not to laugh. "So... you promise you're not going to let me fall and break my neck? Because I have no desire to start school as the region's hottest quadriplegic."
They really were nice shoes - at least, he assumed they were nice shoes. Being a teenage boy, he didn't really take too much interest in what girls had on their feet. But this, he was discovering, was no ordinary girl. Eric laughed at her joke and steered them toward the rental booth. "Look, I promise you're not going to get hurt. I can't promise you're not going to fall, because I would just be lying. But you won't get hurt. And if you start to feel really freaked out, we can just hang onto the wall, or you can grab my belt and I'll tow you around the rink."
"Ok, ok..." She laughed, not really being as afraid as it sounded... she just liked making jokes, really. "Alright... go ahead and get my skates." She took off her shoes, handing them to him daintily, just figuring the guy behind the counter would put them somewhere safe and give her skates in the same size. "If my friend Kim could see me now, she'd be laughing her rear end off..."
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Eric replied, passing the expensive heels to the guy behind the counter. Taking the skates from the clerk, Eric reached for his wallet and pulled out a few bills to pay for the rental, doing so quickly before she could object. He turned and handed Abbi the skates. "Here. Lace these up tight and I'll help walk you out onto the ice, okay?"
Abbi sat herself down on a bench and extended one of those long legs, slipping a petite foot into the first skate and lacing it tightly, before doing the exact same thing with the other foot. She stood, knowing the dubious balance she had wasn’t going to last long once they got off the carpeting and onto the actual ICE. "Ok.. ready for hilarity?"
Kinkaid took a seat a little ways down the bench from her, pulling on his own skates, tying them tightly, and standing easily to his feet. "Look, if you can do a series of back handsprings and get tossed in the air by guys, you can ice skate. You'll be fine," Eric said, smiling broadly. Offering her his hand, he took a half-step forward, finding himself quite close to the petite blonde. "Come on. We'll take it slow. No one expects you to go out there and be Nancy Kerrigan." He turned and started walking across the rubber floor to the ice, his hand on the small of her back - for balance, duh - then stepped out onto the slick white sheet, holding out his hand to her.
You know? The boy had a HELL of a point there. What about basic ice-skating could be more difficult than some of the shit she had to do for cheerleading? That actually made her feel TONS better, and she smiled, waddling her way out to the edge of the ice, and taking his hand. "Ok. So... at least I don't have to worry about some psycho coming out and kneecapping me..." she muttered in reply to his Nancy Kerrigan comment...
"No, though, if you become captain of the cheerleading squad on the first day of auditions, then you might have to worry about getting kneecapped," Eric replied, his grin mischievous. Strong fingers tightened around her dainty hand as she stepped out onto the ice, giving her added support as he felt her skates slip. "Alright. See? That's not so bad. We can just stand here for a minute until you feel like you're ready to move, then we'll move." He held her hand for a moment longer to let her steady herself, then released it, slowly so as not to throw her off balance.
"Ok. So. Whew!" She laughed nervously, standing totally still, not moving an INCH. "Ok. So far, so good. But, um.... this is where I gotta actually MOVE now, huh."
"Well, if you want to actually skate and not just stand, yeah, it is," Eric replied, laughing a little as well. He was relatively certain she could do this - she obviously had to be somewhat coordinate, but at the same time, he found himself wishing she'd worn jeans so she didn't risk bashing up her knee. "If you've ever been on rollerblades, it's like that. Just push a little with your feet," he said. Shifting his feet, he turned around, facing her, and skated backward a few feet away, his smile wide as he watched her.
She tried to shuffle forward a little... and comically enough, rather than moving forward OR falling, just started spinning in a circle. "Ohhhhhh God. Ok... either gonna fall or throw up..." She laughed, flailing a little while trying to maintain her balance. "Make it stop!"
Okay, that, he hadn't actually expected to happen. Evidently, she favored one foot over the other, that or she was far less coordinated - and, thus, a far less competent cheerleader - than he had initially surmised. "Hang on, hang on," he said, stepping forward to grasp her lightly around the wrists. "Okay, okay. Sorry. Shit," he stammered, tugging a little on her wrists, bringing them both very close again. "I got you, Abbi."
Actually? She was just nervous, and trying TOO hard. Once he got her to stop, she blushed in embarrassment, shaking her head. "Ok, ok... let's try this again." She took a deeeeeep breath, and pushed with one foot, balancing with the other, and sure enough... while not exactly racing like an Olympic speed skater, she was slowly skating in a straight line.
"Hey, alright. That's it," Eric said, releasing her hands so that she could move on her own. "That's awesome. Just like that. It's a real smooth motion." He backed away then, skating backward in front of her, keeping that same straight line. "You need to catch your breath? Or you okay to keep going for a minute?" he asked, stealing a quick glance at her legs.
"Keep going!" She yelled with a laugh as, mostly, she just didn't know how to STOP. Ok, at least, she didn’t know how to stop until she got to the wall. Then she just kind of put her hands up and caught herself. "Ok... that was... fun and scary all at once."
Well, at least she seemed to be having a good time - that was a good sign. Hell, this could turn out to be successful first date after all, despite his apprehensions to the contrary. As Abbi hit the wall, bracing herself, Eric continued skating backward, then turned his feet, coming to a hard stop, throwing up a spray of ice behind him as he stopped next to her. He was captain of the hockey team - he was allowed to show off. "That was great. And look - you didn't chip a tooth or bust a knee or anything," he said, laughing along with her as he rested against the wall.
"Maybe... maybe I'd be able to maneuver better if you guided me though." She said sweetly as she offered him her hand. Oh geez. Talk about a cute way of making a move, huh?
"Yeah, sure. We can do that," Eric replied, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice. Pushing away from the wall, he skated toward the inside of the rink - the better able to control how they moved - and took her slim hand. He glanced down at their joined fingers, a dopey smile on his face, and gave her hand a tug to pull her away from the wall. "I won't go fast. But hang on," he warned her, starting to move forward.
How cute was it that without even trying, his words and actions were a metaphor for her fears about a relationship? Still, as they skated, she began gaining more confidence, and was steadily building better balance, to where she probably COULD have let go and skated on her own. She just... didn't WANT to. And the beaming grin on her face kind of gave that away.
As they eased their way around the first curve in the oval rink, Eric's hand tightened a bit more around Abbi's fingers, guiding her alongside him. She was doing well; he only felt her wobble a few times, but she was keeping up, and by all appearances, she was enjoying herself. They moved to the straightaway, and he turned his head to look at her again, glancing in front of them to make sure they didn't collide into any patrons. "You need to take a break, Abbi?" he asked. God, what a smile she had.
“Wanna go get some soda or something?" She asked, feeling a little bit of goosebumps on her legs due to the ice. Hey, she wasn't used to cold, ok? Besides, she was more eager to just... talk to him, get to know him better. She hadn't done a whole lot of dates, so this was kind of exciting to her.
"Yeah, that would definitely hit the spot. Here," he said, guiding her to the wall, then releasing her hang. "Hang on a sec." Without another word, Eric sprinted down the ice, dodging easily between other patrons, cruising along the first bend in the rink before blasting down the straightaway, arcing through the second turn, and pulling up sharply beside her again, scraping up a huge spray of ice toward the middle of the rink. He was breathing a little harder and his skin was slightly flushed, but he had a big grin on his face. "Not bad, huh?" What, you seriously didn't expect a gifted teenage athlete to show off for a minute to try to impress an indescribably hot girl?
"Show-off..." She said with a raised brow, but still giggled all the same. What can she say? She liked that someone felt the need to impress her. Made her feel like a normal girl, not some weirdo from the future.
Eric blushed a little at her comment and the raised brow, but was relieved that she seemed to find it amusing. Lifting a hand to his head, he ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. "Come on," he said, reaching for her hand, moving them in the direction of the lockers. "You were really good out here, Abbi," Eric added glancing at her again. He found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her, but quickly pushed that thought away; he wasn't going to ruin a perfectly good first date.
"I have to admit... I did better than I expected to. Just don't expect me to be trying out for the Kings anytime soon." Then she thought about it for a moment before snickering. "Although with the lineup they have now? I may have a shot."
"See? It wasn't so bad. And I'd be happy to give you another lesson if you want," Eric replied, dropping a not-so-subtle hint that he was angling for a second date with the would-be cheerleader. "The way
"I had a lot of fun too, Eric." She gave a sweet smile, bright and cheery, crossing her legs and clasping her hands over her knees. For one of the only times since she arrived in this time... Abbi felt like she might have a real shot at a normal, happy life here. "Maybe we could do something again sometime?"
After retrieving their shoes, the tall teen sat down on the bench near her - closer than before, but still maintaining a respectful distance - eyes flicking down to watch as she unlaced her skates. He did the same, fingers moving expertly over his own laces, freeing first one foot, then the other. Sighing appreciatively, flexing his toes, he handed Abbi her Manolos, then pulled on his shoes. At her question, Kinkaid looked up and showed her a surprised smile. "Yeah. There's a lot of fun stuff to do here in town. I'd be happy to show you around, Abbi," he said.
"Well, good. But I should warn you: you're pretty much the only friend I have that didn’t move here WITH me. So... expect me to pester the HELL out of you at first." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Trust me," he replied, tying his other shoe and standing to collect his skates, "there are a lot of things I can think of that would be way worse than being pestered by you, Abbi." Eric held out his hand to her once she'd slipped her feet into her oh-so-stylish heels, flashing her that team captain smile, and said, "Come on - let's go get that soda."